Spectators yesterday booed an injured Novak Djokovic as he left the court in Rod Laver Arena after quitting one set into his Australian Open semi-final against Alexander Zverev.
Dealing with a what he said was a torn muscle, Djokovic lost the opener 7-6 (7/5) when he put a forehand volley into the net, then began shaking his head and immediately walked over to shake Zverev’s hand. The 37-year-old Djokovic packed up his equipment and walked off toward the locker room, pausing to respond to the jeers by giving two thumbs-up.
At his news conference, Djokovic said that the pain in his taped left leg was “getting worse and worse.”
Photo: Reuters
He hurt it during his quarter-final victory over Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday night.
“I knew even if I won the first set, it was going to be a huge uphill battle for me,” Djokovic said.
He was bidding for an 11th championship at the Australian Open and record 25th Grand Slam title overall.
This is the second time in the past four major tournaments he was unable to finish because of an injury. He withdrew from last year’s French Open before the quarter-finals because he tore the meniscus in his right knee during a match.
Djokovic underwent surgery in Paris and less than two months later reached the final at Wimbledon, then won a gold medal for Serbia at the Paris Olympics.
There was a lot Djokovic was unsure about.
Might this have been his last appearance at Melbourne Park?
“There is a chance. Who knows?” Djokovic said. “I’ll just have to see how the season goes. I want to keep going.”
He said it was too soon to know how long he might be sidelined.
He said he was not sure yet what would happen to his coaching arrangement with former on-court rival Andy Murray.
What Djokovic did make clear: His focus and goals will not waver.
“It’s not like I’m worrying approaching every Grand Slam now whether I’m going to get injured or not, but statistics are against me in a way in the last couple of years,” he said. “But I’ll keep going. I’ll keep striving to win more Slams. And as long as I feel that I want to put up with all of this, I’ll be around.”
No. 2-seeded Zverev reached his first title match at Melbourne Park and on Sunday faces No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy, the defending champion, who beat No. 21 Ben Shelton of the US 7-6 (7/2), 6-2, 6-2 in yesterday’s second semi-final.
Zverev, a 27-year-old German, is a two-time runner-up at other major tournaments, losing finals in five sets at the 2020 US Open and last year’s French Open.
“My goal is still to compete with the big guys and to compete for these kind of tournaments and try to win them,” Zverev said. “For that, I need to get better. I need to improve on the court. I need to improve physically.”
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